Zucchini Agrotechnology In Risky Farming Zones

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Zucchini with a Ural accent

Photo 1. Shelters for zucchini can be stationary - in the form of mini-greenhouses

Our mid-Ural summer is short - in spring frosts continue until mid-June, and in summer, in early August, night temperatures begin to drop rapidly, and often exhausting rains come. It is clear that in such conditions, most heat-loving crops have to be grown in seedlings and then planted in a greenhouse, otherwise no harvest will be obtained.

However, greenhouse areas are limited, and there is no space for zucchini there. As a result, most of the Ural gardeners sow zucchini seeds at the end of May, or even in June (of course, under improvised shelters), and the first harvest is obtained no earlier than mid-July.

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From the beginning of August, the favorable period for the growth of zucchini is already ending, and the time for consumption of this valuable vegetable crop is very limited. You can, of course, buy zucchini on the market and in stores, but it is not easy to find quality products there, because they are tasty only freshly picked, and in an unripe form, and such fruits are very poorly stored.

It is not difficult to buy ripe zucchini on the market in season, but their taste is far from ideal. Therefore, the Ural gardeners are trying to extend the zucchini season by improving the agricultural technology of their cultivation. It should be noted that this is not very difficult, since zucchini is a rather grateful culture that can please with high yields for a long period.

Techniques to extend the period of zucchini consumption

There are quite simple agrotechnical techniques that allow you to remove the first fruits in our harsh Ural conditions in mid-June. Thus, the period of consumption of zucchini is significantly extended. These are pre-sowing soaking and germination of seeds, growing seedlings, planting plants on warm ridges, active use of shelters and the use of growth and development stimulants.

Presowing soaking. It is best to soak the seeds in the Epin growth stimulator or in the Kresacin preparation, followed by their germination at a temperature of + 24 … + 26 ° C. Seed germination is most reliable in wide, flat containers filled with wet sawdust. This operation speeds up the harvest by about a week.

Growing seedlings. Can receive it at home or on biofuel-heated beds in greenhouses. The greenhouse method is much more effective, usually the seedlings in it are stronger and not very elongated. In addition, after she easily transfers the landing to a permanent place. This method is also less laborious, but it requires the fulfillment of a number of conditions, otherwise the plants may freeze in one of the many frosts or simply wither away in cold nights.

Planting seedlings on warm ridges. Zucchini, in which the root system is in normal temperature conditions due to heated biofuel, tolerate short-term drops in air temperature much easier, because in all melons the roots are more sensitive to low temperatures than the aerial part.

Active use of shelters. Shelters can be either temporary (the usual covering material thrown over arcs), and stationary, which are mini-greenhouses specially designed for zucchini. The second option is more convenient and profitable, since it not only provides reliable shelter for plants in spring and early summer, but also allows them to save them from cold nights and rains in August, when zucchini grown without shelter quickly fall ill with gray mold or powdery mildew and die … In other words, the use of stationary shelters ensures the extension of the fruiting process until the end of summer.

The use of growth and development stimulants. Regular (every 5-7 days) spraying of vegetative plants with "Epin" and humic preparations increase the cold resistance and endurance of plants to adverse conditions.

Preparing a greenhouse for growing seedlings

You need to start preparing the greenhouse in the fall. At this time, the upper part of the soil is removed in it, and two compact heaps are formed from the lower part in the corners. The middle of the greenhouse, freed from the soil, is filled with a variety of organic residues (leaves, grass, tops, straw, etc.) - it is better mixed, while the leaves or straw must occupy about two-thirds of the total volume (this is necessary for quick heating of the soil in spring) … When using leaves, they must be sprinkled with lime, as leaves from deciduous crops in our region have an acidic reaction.

In mid-March, the space around the greenhouse is freed from snow, snow is thrown out of the greenhouse itself and covered with a film for faster thawing of the soil. After defrosting heaps of soil and organic matter, you should immediately start filling the greenhouse with fresh manure. Usually we have this in the first decade of April. Then the manure is sprinkled with fresh sawdust (they increase the air permeability of the soil and absorb excess nitrogen from the fresh manure) and, if possible, are mixed with a pitchfork with a laid bottom layer of organic matter.

After that, it is advisable to spill organic matter with boiling water, and then immediately throw soil from the heaps prepared in the fall. If the soil has not completely thawed, then you should not wait for it to completely thaw - it can take a long time. It is necessary to transfer the thawed soil first, and from above evenly distribute lumps of frozen soil over the ridges. After that, the greenhouse is carefully closed for a week to warm the soil.

Seed preparation and sowing

4-5 days before the intended sowing of seeds, they are soaked in the growth stimulator "Epin" or in the preparation "Kresacin" and then germinated in containers filled with moistened sawdust. After pecking, they immediately start sowing - it is impossible to tighten with it due to the fragility of the roots, which may be damaged during sowing. The optimum temperature for germinating seeds is + 24 … + 26 ° C, the same daytime temperature is desirable for further plant development (night temperature is needed + 18 … + 20 ° C, but not lower than + 15 ° C).

Since zucchini reacts very painfully to transplanting, the seedlings must be grown in separate containers, and of a sufficiently large size (ordinary cassettes and seedling pots will not work - they are too small). Large pots (with a diameter of at least 10-12 cm) can be used as containers, used for growing large plants with a closed root system - conifers, ornamental shrubs, etc. Ordinary film milk bags are also quite suitable, only in them in the lower part you will have to make small holes for water to drain.

The planting containers are filled with loose fertile soil - it must first be warmed up indoors to a comfortable temperature. Then seeds are sown in them (for reliability, 2 seeds in each container), and the soil is watered. The soil in the container is poured about 2 cm below their upper border, so that the seedlings that appear at the very beginning of their development are inside the containers, where (due to biofuel in conjunction with shelters) it will be warmer.

If the biofuel in the greenhouse at the time of sowing the seeds has flared up, then the containers with the seeds are immediately placed in it. If the heating is insufficient, then this operation can be carried out in a few days (but before the emergence of seedlings on the soil surface) by temporarily placing the containers with seeds in a warm room with a temperature of + 24 … + 26 ° C. The technology of "planting" containers does not cause any difficulties - they are buried directly in the soil of the greenhouse ridge at such a distance from each other that it would be sufficient for the comfortable development of plants before planting them in a permanent place.

Then the ridge is covered with plastic wrap, laying it directly on the soil, and carefully sprinkle the edges of the film with soil and press down with stones. After that, arcs are installed inside the greenhouse for additional temporary shelter of plants and thick covering material is thrown over the arcs. At the end of these works, the greenhouse is carefully closed. It should be borne in mind that the operation of placing containers in a greenhouse and installing shelters must be carried out very quickly so that the low temperature outside does not have time to negatively affect the seeds that have hatched. This means that all the materials at hand (film, stones, arcs and covering material) should be at hand.

When the first shoots appear, which, depending on the circumstances, may occur in 5-7 days, you will need to open the greenhouse and quickly cut circular holes in the film above all containers. Then the greenhouse is carefully covered again. Water the seedlings as needed (usually 1-2 times a week) with specially heated water.

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Preparing a warm bed

Photo 2. The middle of the bush should always be well lit

As I already noted, it is better to grow zucchini in our region on warm ridges. Theoretically, a compost heap can act as such a ridge, but usually not the most illuminated parts of the garden are allocated for compost. Therefore, in practice, for zucchini most often it is necessary to specially create a high warm ridge based on a variety of organic matter (leaves, manure and plant residues). From above, organic matter is covered with a layer of 40-50 cm of fertile, loose soil with acidity (pH) 6.5-7.5.

If there is a lack of the required amount of soil, you can make holes in the proposed planting sites and pour 1.5 buckets of soil into each hole, and sprinkle the rest of the organic matter with a minimum layer of soil. When forming holes for bush varieties of zucchini, they are guided by a planting scheme of 70x70 cm; long-leafed varieties are usually given a large feeding area, planting them according to a 140x70 cm scheme.

Immediately after formation, the ridge is covered with a film, then holes with a diameter of 25-30 cm are cut in it in the places of the proposed planting of plants. The edges of the film are carefully pressed with stones and sprinkled with soil. The use of a film improves the temperature regime in the area of the root system (which means that the zucchini will grow faster) and leads to some reduction in the number of waterings.

Transplanting

Zucchini seedlings are best planted at the age of 20-25 days - at this time it tolerates the transplanting process more easily. True, in our conditions, spring is often late, and it can still be dangerous to plant plants from a greenhouse (albeit on a warm ridge). In this case, it makes sense to wait a few days and transplant the seedlings as soon as possible.

It should be borne in mind that the presence of holes in the containers for water drainage (and you cannot do without them) leads to the fact that individual roots will penetrate through them, no matter how small the holes are, so you need to dig out the containers very carefully, trying not to damage the roots, caught outside of them. From this point of view, it is more convenient to work with plastic bags, which are simply cut when the plants are planted in a permanent place, which prevents root breakage. When growing seedlings in pots, damage to the roots is inevitable, since it is usually not possible to carefully remove the roots that have found themselves outside the containers - in this case, an earlier planting of plants in a permanent place is preferable.

Before planting, the zucchini are watered abundantly in buckets of warm water, after planting, they are watered again and immediately covered with a thin covering material, throwing it directly onto the plants. Then, temporary greenhouses are installed on top of the plants and covered with foil to protect the zucchini from low temperatures. The film for a day in good sunny weather is opened slightly for ventilation, and the covering material is kept on the plants before they get stronger.

Care during the growing season

Photo 3. Young zucchini ovaries are the most tasty and useful

Zucchini are very photophilous - in insufficient lighting, female flowers do not appear on them, therefore, you should regularly monitor so that the fruiting tops are exposed to the light. After the plants enter the phase of active fruiting, when due to the growth of the bush, the flow of sunlight to its center decreases, to restore the light regime, 2-3 old leaves are removed about once a week. Usually these are leaves, near which the zucchini has already been removed. When growing long-leaved zucchini, there is another method for improving the level of illumination - bringing the lashes to vertical supports so that their tops are well lit. You can use ordinary stakes or wooden stands as supports.

Zucchini prefer very fertile light air-permeable soils, and heavy clay soils with close water tables are unsuitable. Zucchini responds very well to the introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers, so a good filling of the soil with organic matter is required (if you have high warm beds, this is done automatically) and several dressings. With good plant development, three feedings are usually sufficient.

The first is carried out before flowering with complex fertilizers (for example, "Kemira universal"), and the second and third - 10 and 20 days after the first - with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. You can do without top dressing at all, putting under each bush when planting seedlings one bag of Apion fertilizer, which will provide the necessary nutrition for the plants throughout the growing season, and without any hassle.

Zucchini are very demanding for aeration and do not tolerate compacted soils, but most of their roots are close to the surface. Moreover, the root system is heavily exposed during watering. Therefore, the traditional recommendation is to mulch the zucchini with a soil mixture (a mixture of compost and peat) with a layer of 3-5 cm after each watering. This is quite tedious - it is much easier to mulch the soil with needles, leaves or leaf litter immediately after planting the seedlings. The result will be the same, and you only need to mulch once.

As for moisture-loving, externally dry weather, zucchini tolerate well, however, with a lack of moisture, the ovaries stop filling and go to the ripening stage. On the contrary, with timely watering, plants give a significant increase in yield, therefore watering should be regular, but moderate. Zucchini is watered at the root, trying not to get on the leaves and in the area of the root collar, as this is fraught with the appearance of gray rot. It is necessary to water only with very warm water (+ 33 … + 35 ° С), when watering with cold water, mass decay of young ovaries and suspension of plant development are inevitable.

In order to stimulate development, as well as to accelerate the ripening period and increase the yield, approximately once every 2 weeks, it is worth spraying the zucchini with growth and development stimulants ("Epin", etc.).

Pollination is also worth mentioning separately. The fact is that bad weather conditions and the absence of bumblebees often lead to the fact that the flowers of the zucchini are not pollinated. Therefore, it is safer to pollinate flowers by hand. This operation should be carried out early in the morning on the first day of the opening of a female flower with pollen taken from well-lit male flowers - flowers that are not sufficiently illuminated by the sun may contain sterile pollen. It is useless to pollinate flowers that have water in their corollas - pollination will not occur. In addition, in order to avoid the sterility of pollen due to bad weather conditions, it is advisable to regularly spray the plants with fruit-forming stimulants ("Ovary", "Bud", etc.).

Harvest

Young zucchini ovaries are considered the most delicious and healthy. They are collected regularly - about once every 4-5 days, removing greens 15-20 cm long, when their seeds are still soft and immature. They also remove all ugly and overgrown fruits that only interfere with the growth of young ovaries, reducing the yield. Harvested zucchini is best used immediately, but can be refrigerated for up to a week if needed.

Svelana Shlyakhtina, Yekaterinburg

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